Not too bothered where rakes are placed as long as the bunker has one. All I ask.
And as you play your round you make a conscious effort to ensure they are as requested and any that are not, you stop and put them right, and we wonder why there are issues with slow play!!
Jimaroid
Journeyman Pro
Which way is forwards on a rake?
Crow
Crow Person
Some places are considerate enough to have stands for the rakes, which makes them less likely to interfere with the ball.
I've got nothing against following the clubs preference for where a rake should be left and can't understand why everyone is having a go at SILH, must be the lack of on-course time.
I've got nothing against following the clubs preference for where a rake should be left and can't understand why everyone is having a go at SILH, must be the lack of on-course time.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Did you read what I said about how long sorting a couple of rakes actually takes - and that any group behind me that thought I was slowing things up by sorting a couple of rakes so they don't get a bad break due to a stupidly chucked down rake - well they would get a piece of my mind. it takes no longer to get rakes positioned properly than it does to repair pitch marks - do we stop doing that as it might be a cause of 'slow play'.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Thankyou. For Goodness sake - what I do is simply me trying to stick to what the club asaks, and to be considerate to following players - I don't get at all why I am getting all this sad cynicism on this. Actually it is a pity that some don't actually seem to care about where they leave the rakes and how that might affect another player - and by the sounds of it wouldn't bother moving a rake if they saw it left in a stupid position, Well of course why would they - they are not affected so why should they bother. And it's absolutely obvious if you think for just one second which end of the rake must be closest to the green.
MashieNiblick
Tour Winner
You are not alone SILH. One of my pet hates is rakes placed a few inches along the inside of the back lip of bunkers where they could trap a ball on the down slope and leave an impossible shot.
If I see any like this as I walk past I will re-position it so it is less likely to give a player a bad break. Normally it just means turning it 90*. I reckon it takes about 10 seconds max.
If I see any like this as I walk past I will re-position it so it is less likely to give a player a bad break. Normally it just means turning it 90*. I reckon it takes about 10 seconds max.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
You mean like this real example in bunker at the left side of our 10th green from last year
Now I didn't leave it there - but someone in a group in front put it there. And as you walk past that bunker to the next tee at least the group in front of me must all have ignored it.
Now I didn't leave it there - but someone in a group in front put it there. And as you walk past that bunker to the next tee at least the group in front of me must all have ignored it.
Wilson
Head Pro
It would never occur to me to move that rake, unless my ball went in that bunker I don't think the bunker would even enter my mind.You mean like this real example in bunker at the left side of our 10th green from last year
Now I didn't leave it there - but someone in a group in front put it there. And as you walk past that bunker to the next tee at least the group in front of me must all have ignored it.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
You are kidding? - no seriously - if you saw it you'd just leave it there?
Maybe you'd find it worthwhile having a quick look into bunkers in passing - just in case someone ahead of you had left a rake positioned like this - and move it as a courtesy to the players behind you,.
Wilson
Head Pro
Yes, firstly I don't think I'd notice it unless my ball went in there/I walked right past it, and even if I did it wouldn't occur to me to move it - I've just re-read the 4 pages of "Etiquette & Good Practice", that is in our club diary, and it makes no mention of where to place rakes, it says to enter a bunker on the low side & ensure you rake fully, but no instructions on where to leave the rake.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Whether your club has advice or not - I am frankly astonished at your thoughts on this. And that just because the club guidance doesn't tell you about rake positioning you wouldn't bother. Sorry - I am baffled as to why it wouldn't occur to you to move it.
Wilson
Head Pro
It's just never been something that has been taught to me, or I have read or picked up - to me rakes are part of the game and sometimes you get lucky breaks off them, and sometimes you get bad breaks off them - rub of the green.
If there is a local rule/guidance on how to leave them, I will follow it after I have used one, but otherwise I tend to just leave it in what I consider is a sensible place, especially if it is a large bunker with a number of rakes.
bobmac
Major Champion
I think you'll find he is not alone
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
I am sure you agree that the rake in my photo is not in a sensible place - but you said you'd not think about moving it. That's what baffles me.
And off 10 you must have played with hundreds of different players - and you have never noticed anyone reposition a rake. I also don't get why you think this needs teaching - it is surely blindingly obvious that your ball could sneak into that bunker and get trapped against the back edge (the green is to the right of the pic) with no shot whatsoever. Yes - rub of the green and all that - but we don't want any of our fellows to suffer that sort of bad luck - brought about through someone else's stupidity or carelessness.
richart
Major Champion
I will put a rake that is half in half out of the bunker, back into it at my club. I will put the rake in a better place having used it having played out of one of our bunkers, but I don't go round examining other bunkers for badly positioned ones. I see badly raked bunkers all the time. Should I be going into these bunkers and rake them ? Where do you stop being a golfer and become a greenkeeper ?
Wilson
Head Pro
It's not that I've never noticed anyone re-position a rake, it's more that I don't think I've ever played with anyone who has re-positioned a rake!
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Neither do I - but when I approach a green I will glance at bunkers in passing and likewise when on green and not putting. The greenkeepers aren't going to be about sorting bunkers and rakes all day - so I try and do my bit for other players as best I can - impacting as little as possible on the general flow. Fortunately badly raked bunkers - sufficient to merit going out of my way to rake them - are very rare, but repositioning bunker rakes is quick and easy.
Wilson
Head Pro
Great point, now if I notice an unraked bunker, I will rake it, but again it would have to be because my ball was in it, or I walk right past it - if I was in the middle of the fairway I wouldn't be checking them to see if they had been raked.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
It's not a bad point - and I accept what's said - but I go back to me feeling that I have a duty to other players to sort terribly raked bunkers or stupidly placed rakes as and when I come across them.
For me it's just like coming across rubbish dropped in the street - or indeed on the golf course. If I notice it and it irks me I will often pick it up and carry it to the next bin. Many would walk past thinking it's the street-cleaners (or the greenkeepers) job - I don't - I may well pick it up. And so to tidying bunkers and re-positioning rakes - when such considerations are, for me, even more important when the folk behind you might be visitors having paid a lot of money to play - and for whom this sort of thing creates a negative impression and is unnecessary - never mind the frustration of falling foul of the carelessness.
I think though that on this I seem to be finding myself standing at my lonesome HNSP
